It can be a very challenging and emotionally complex decision to admit someone you care for into a nursing home facility. Such decisions are usually not made lightly. They arise from necessity when a loved one can no longer care for themselves and there are no family members who are qualified or capable of providing the care that they require. Most will do research to find the best nursing home facility that they can also afford. It is devastating to find out that the people you have entrusted your loved one’s care to have been negligent, neglectful, or even abusive to someone who requires the highest standard of compassion and attention.

Look Out for These Common Forms of Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Homes

If you believe you or a loved one is experiencing nursing home abuse, talk to attorneys Rowe and Hamilton today

The first thing that you need to know is what forms of nursing home abuse and neglect are most common and how to spot the signs of such negligence when you visit your loved one. It is important to visit frequently so that you will quickly become aware of any changes, and also to ensure that your loved one has the best quality of life and companionship.

Some of the most obvious and apparent signs of neglect or abuse include broken bones, bruises, cuts, and other visible and notable injuries. While accidental falls do happen, it is not something that you should take as a matter of course. The nursing home staff should be present and capable, ensuring that your loved one does not fall and is not dropped. If your loved one has a broken bone, bruises, or cuts, especially if it happens more than once, you need to take action to ensure that he or she is well cared for in the future. In some cases, these are indications of actual physical abuse, while in others, it is a product of neglect.

Then, there are the signs of bed sores and infection. A bedridden patient needs to be moved frequently to prevent bed sores. If your loved one spends all of their time in bed or sitting in a chair, then they are at risk of getting these extremely painful wounds if they are not moved at regular intervals. Then, if bed sores are not noticed or not treated adequately (or at all), then they can result in infections, like sepsis. You will need to actually check your loved one for bed sores, especially if you see that he or she is almost always in the same position when you visit.

Another indication of neglect can be found in dramatic weight loss from malnutrition and/or symptoms of dehydration. You may notice that your loved one’s lips are dry, that their skin is dry, and that they are eager for any food or drink that you offer. He or she may grow weaker as time passes and their mood might become more despondent.

Any time you notice mood or behavior changes in a nursing home patient, you should be on the lookout for further indications of neglect or abuse. In many cases, a patient is not able to communicate or is afraid to speak about what is happening to them. For this reason, many instances of nursing home abuse and neglect, including sexual abuse, go unreported.

If you notice that your loved one is experiencing problems from a medical condition that was previously controlled, or if he or she is displaying new symptoms, then it could be a case of inappropriate medication dosage. They may be given the wrong medication, not given their medication at all, or given medication at large doses to keep them compliant.

Why is Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Such a Serious Problem in Indiana?

The reality is that nursing home abuse and neglect is not more serious in Indiana than in other states, and this because many states are dealing with the same challenges. This includes understaffing, undertrained staff, and of course, the fact that many patients in nursing homes are not able to express their needs or the abuse they endure. Indiana has over 515 Medicaid and Medicare certified nursing homes, with only 3% of them being located within hospitals. More than 3/4 of all Indiana nursing homes are non-profit facilities.

The issue of undertrained staff is significant, though to address this might further exacerbate the issue of understaffing. This is one of the most serious problems because the nurses who provide care to the nursing home residents are working very long shifts with very few breaks. Naturally, this makes it more challenging for them to provide the highest quality of care.

The CMS Five Star Ranking System in the United States

There is a five star ranking system used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to rate nursing homes in the United States. These rankings are based on the facility’s health inspection ratings, the staff ratings, and the quality measure ratings. The health inspection ratings are based on inspections. The staff ratings are based on how many hours of care each nursing home resident is given, on average. The quality measure rating is based on how well the residents of the nursing home are provided for, physically and clinically. Indiana ranks as number 42 in the United States in the CMS ranking system. If you find this information alarming, you are not alone, and it is just one of the reasons that you should be hyper vigilant when it comes to the care that your loved one receives.

Your Next Steps When You Suspect Abuse or Neglect

It is important to take action quickly when you suspect abuse or neglect in a nursing home facility. You should remove your loved one to another facility to get them out of the situation. However, you should also contact the police to investigate. Any time you are suspicious about the care that your loved one is receiving or an injury they have experienced, you should take it seriously. Contact Rowe & Hamilton Attorneys at Law to schedule a free consultation and discuss your options for moving forward.

When you sign the papers at a nursing home to register a loved one in a nursing home, the last thing you expect is for them to be abused, neglected, or exploited. This is especially true when the nursing home is a well-known and skilled rehabilitation facility. Unfortunately,exploitation of nursing home residents is a real issue in our country, and it has been a serious issue of concern for the state of Indiana, as well.

Indiana Nursing Home Under Investigation

Just over a year ago, The Waters of Scottsburg, a facility that serves nearly 90 residents who require daily care, wasunder investigation due to nude photos surfacing of one of its residents. The facility released an official statement that said: “We immediately notified all proper authorities, conducted an internal investigation, and have taken other appropriate action.” Sadly enough, this probably did not make the family of the resident feel any better about what took place.

What happened was quite simple: nude photos of a resident were allegedly found on social media. However, there is not a simple explanation for this type of exploitation. What type of person could possibly take nude photos of a vulnerable elderly person and then post them on social media? According to the news station, as many as three employees of The Waters of Scottsburg were part of the investigation that was being handled by the Indiana Department of Health and the Scottsburg police department.

The Waters of Scottsburg said that the three nursing assistants were suspended. Since that incident, no new news has surfaced on the issue, despite the fact that the case was turned over to local prosecutors, who were in charge of making any decisions regarding any possible criminal charges. In a similarsickening story, a certified nursing assistant (CNA) who worked at Asperion Care in Michigan City was criminally charged for posting a video of an elderly resident in the shower on Snapchat.

Snapchat Elderly Voyeurism

The CNA involved is not worth the mentioning of her name, and due to patient privacy, the patient’s name has been withheld from the news. The court documents stated that the video showed the 85-year-old victim naked in the shower while the CNA sprayed her with water. The CNA’s voice could be heard in the video saying, “look at this crazy…she doesn’t like taking showers.” The resident was a dementia patient who certainly deserved at least her dignity to be protected while in the care of a professional caretaker. When the CNA was confronted about the video, she told her supervisor that she “accidentally” posted the video on Snapchat and she only meant to snap a photo of the elderly patient’s face.

As the investigation continued, more evidence indicated that the CNA was not telling the truth. A screenshot of the video was procured by someone who showed it to supervisors of Asperion Care. The court record denotes that the screenshot included the elderly patient sitting naked on a chair in the shower, completely exposed, with a caption that basically said “She hates showers,” when we remove the unnecessary wording that was used.

The CNA was fully aware of the patient privacy policy and code of conduct at Asperion Care, which is outlined in its employee handbook. In fact, Asperion proved that the CNA signed off that she had received a copy of the employee handbook. In the handbook, it clearly states:

“Each facility resident and employee should be free of any fear that he or she will be photographed or videotaped, or have his or her voice recorded, copied or transmitted improperly. Therefore, employees are prohibited from possessing or using, or assisting another person to possess or use a recording device while on the premises of the facility or while working for the facility.”

Another Recent Story of Disgust

As if the last two stories were not enough to let people know that this type of behavior is not acceptable and will be prosecuted, another news story popped up in Wisconsin just recently. Eau Claire police have charged two certified nursing assistants with felony counts for sharing a naked photo of another dementia patient, as well. One of the CNAs is charged with capturing and distributing a nude representation without consent and the other CAN is charged as a party to the crime.

According to the criminal complaint, both of the CNAs were working the night shift when they noticed that a male patient had fallen in the hallway. He was on the floor, his pants were down, and he was exposed. One of the CNAs decided at that moment to snap a photo of the dementia patient and shared it on social media. According to a witness, both of the CNAs found the scenario of the poor elderly man on the floor “hilarious.” The same witness says that one of the CNAs snapped a photo and sent it through Snapchat to her boyfriend.

While a forensic examination did not turn up the photograph, however a text message between the two defendants did confirm that the incident occurred. Both of the CNAs were fired by Azura Memory Care and face criminal charges, facing up to 3 ½ years in prison each and up to a $10,000 fine.

Betraying Patients

You do not have to be a certified nursing assistant to realize that these incidents are inappropriate and disgusting. CNAs are supposed to be an elderly patient’s advocate and caretaker, not the person who degrades and disgraces them. These three incidents are clear depictions of betraying the trust of patients. Anyone who works in a nursing home should ensure that they are doing everything they can to protect their patient’s rights, their dignity, and their privacy.

If a loved one has been exploited, neglected, or abused in an Indianapolis nursing home, you need to contact an dedicatedIndianapolis nursing home attorney today to discuss your options. This type of behavior is not appropriate and someone needs to be held accountable for the embarrassment and emotional distress this has caused everyone involved.Contact us today online or call us for a free consultation.

According to anIndyStar investigation, thousands of elderly people are exposed to traumatic and often deadly neglect and abuse. The Indiana agency, Adult Protective Services, is responsible for ensuring that these vulnerable citizens are properly taken care of. Unfortunately, investigators from APS are overwhelmed, regardless of how good their intentions may be, and more and more seniors are falling prey to financial exploitation.

Adult Protective Service Comparisons by State

When IndyStar conducted an investigation to find out how Indiana’s Adult Protective Services was performing in comparison to other adult protective agencies across the country, they found that Indiana was coming up short. For starters, Indiana APS has up to 20 days to initiate an investigation after a report comes in. Illinois requires this to happen within seven days, while Ohio requires investigations to be launched within three days. In Michigan, reports must be investigated within one day.

Another problem that Indiana faces is the lack of an adequate amount of investigators to handle reports. When comparing states with approximately the same amount of residents, IndyStar found that Indiana maintained an extremely low amount of full-time investigators. The lower the amount of investigators, the less cases can be handled in a timely manner.

Full-time investigators per state:

Indiana – 30

Arizona – 124

Tennessee – 90

Washington – 175

APS Budgeting Constraints

When funds are inadequate, agencies and services will not function as smoothly and as competently as when they receive suitable funding. Indiana seems to also be lacking in this section of the investigation, as well, only receiving a budget of $3.26 million. While this may seem like an enormous amount of money, in comparison, it is embarrassingly low. In fact, the animal control in Indianapolis is provided 42.6 percent more funding than APS receives to protect the elderly and endangered adults of the entire state of Indiana.

Other state APS budgets:

Massachusetts – $20.1 million

Washington – $13.6 million

Tennessee – $8 million

The Cost of Under-Budgeting

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration is the agency in charge of funding APS. APS officials admitted to IndyStar that there is not enough time to visit every home for every complaint or maintain proper records. To make matters worse, they also confessed that victims of senior abuse and neglect are sometimes left in precarious situations due to lack of funding for relocation.

It Will Only Get Worse

APS officials also divulged to IndyStar that there are still open financial exploitation cases from up to seven years ago. Investigators do not have time to spend on pursuing these horrific cases, let alone criminal charges against the people taking advantage of the elderly. According to the executive director of Indiana APS, the problem is getting worse, with a 33 percent increase of financial exploitation cases alone in the past decade.

Bank Robberies vs. Financial Exploitation Cases

In Indiana in the year 2010, there were 1,277 cases of financial exploitation of seniors, in comparison to a mere 110 cases of bank robberies. In that year, financial exploitation losses added up to $38 million, while bank robberies resulted in $1 million in losses. Research conducted by the National Protective Services Association indicates that 10 percent of financially exploited seniors end up depending on government assistance programs, such as public assistance and Medicaid.

Unreported Cases

Research estimates that merely one in 44 cases of financial exploitation of seniors are reported to authorities. Some of the victims of financial exploitations cases are too proud or ashamed to report what happened to them, while others are unable to report the crimes because their disabilities deem them unable to speak up for themselves. Many have a difficult time understanding why someone whom they trusted would hurt and take advantage of them.

Trust Issues

Inone case of financial exploitation that occurred in 2010, a Bank of America fraud analyst reported suspicious credit card activity on a new Chase account that went from zero to $19,175.20 in just one month on tattoos and body piercings, furniture rentals, a 60-inch television, and a racing vehicle. Before reporting the activity on the account, he attempted to call the caregiver of the elderly woman, who was authorized as a user on the account. The caregiver, Julie Lagos, gave the analyst a fake address.

The analyst also tried to call the cardholder, the elderly woman, about the recent purchases on the account. While the elderly woman did not seem to know anything about the purchases on the account, she was steadfast about keeping Lagos on the account. She began crying during the conversation and told the analyst not to call again.

When the APS investigator went to the home of the 80-year-old woman the next day, the elderly woman would not open the door. She kept the chain lock attached and merely cracked the door open. When the APS investigator flashed her ID and badge, the woman told her, “You’ll have to talk to Julie,” and closed the door. The APS investigator knocked on the door again, but the elderly woman would not answer this time.

Preventing Financial Exploitation of Seniors

Sadly, the seniors who are financially exploited are being taken advantage of by scammers whom they have come to trust. This is yet another reason why they do not report these incidents. Teaching people who are vulnerable or older how to recognize the signs of scams and pinpoint behaviors of scammers is vital to protect our seniors and prevent financial exploitation.

Retirement and pension accounts have become less popular, which means that most seniors depend on their financial resources to survive. Many have saved up money for decades, some do not trust banks, and others rely on credit cards to pay their monthly bills. In most cases, the elderly person provides their caretaker with authorization to manage their financial accounts, leaving them vulnerable to being exploited.

If your loved one has been financially exploited, you need anexperienced Indianapolis senior abuse and neglect attorney who will fight for restitution and help further protect the vulnerable seniors in our society. Contact the law firm of Rowe & Hamilton to discuss the details of your case today.

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